


kneel

by imposterhuman



Series: angsty post-endgame drabbles [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Feels, Endgame Deleted Scene, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Introspection, Post-Endgame, Tony Angst, Tony Feels, everyone kneels for tony, im sad today so yall get angst, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-23 07:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20004208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: Clint was the first one to kneel.





	kneel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [desitonystark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/desitonystark/gifts).



> for the lovely tonystanktableforone because her [analysis on tumblr](https://tonystanktableforone.tumblr.com/post/186577748052/maryjanes-heroes-say-goodbye-to-tony-stark-in) inspired this whole thing
> 
> im still angsting in case you couldnt tell
> 
> enjoy!

Clint was the first one to kneel. 

He had seen the enemies collapsing to ash and he had known that he had lost someone else. No one could’ve used the Gauntlet without dying- that’s what Tony had said before the battle. The radiation alone…

Maybe Bruce would have survived. He undid the Snap, after all. But Bruce was in front of him, still on his feet. 

No, the fallen hero was Tony Stark, Iron Man. 

Pepper was clinging to him, her own armor shiny and new compared to Tony’s burnt and destroyed suit. Rhodey had his back to his brother, holding a kid tight, blocking his view. They were a perfect picture, the curtain call of a horrific tragedy.

So Clint kneeled. Tony deserved  _ something _ , some recognition for his sacrifice. Something Clint had never given him in life. 

He bowed his head, suppressing sobs. After Natasha, any loss was too much. He and Tony had never repared the bridges burnt after the Civil War, and now they never would. Tony had done what Clint had never thought he was capable of- Tony had sacrificed himself for the world.

Clint had seen Tony’s daughter, had seen how happy Tony was with Morgan and Pepper. Yet, he still Snapped. 

(Clint knew, deep down, that he could never have done that. He could never have left his perfect, happy family with only a corpse for company. Did that make him a bad person? He wasn’t sure.)

The battlefield was quiet but for Pepper’s muffled cries. No one wanted to interrupt her grief with their noises. Everyone was standing, staring, in utter disbelief that Earth’s best defender was gone and he wasn’t coming back.

Clint didn’t move from his spot on the ground, even though he was the only one kneeling. He had failed Tony before, had hurt him, had belittled him. He wasn’t going to do it again. He would give Tony the respect he deserved.

T’Challa looked back at him, frozen in place. And slowly, slowly, T’Challa sunk to his knee, too. 

A  _ king  _ was kneeling for Tony. Clint thought that Tony might’ve loved the irony.

Captain Marvel was next, stepping gracefully onto one knee. She looked confused, almost lost. Clint wondered if she was used to heroes dying in battle. With as powerful as she was, he doubted it. 

He heard Steve collapse unsteadily to the ground. They didn’t look at each other; Steve didn’t take his eyes off of Tony’s prone form. Thor was next to him, doing the same, another king bending his knee for the universe’s savior.

Nebula, next to Quill and Valkyrie, looked almost proud to be able to honor Tony. Clint knew that she and Tony got close when they were stranded in space. His heart broke a little more at the number of people Tony was leaving behind.

Strange’s face was wrought with guilt as he kneeled, too. Clint knew the story, knew about the 14 million futures, knew that Strange had condemned Tony to death because it was the only way. Part of him wanted to strangle the man. Part of him, remembering Natasha’s sacrifice, wept for him. They both knew guilt, after all.

Sam and Bucky, both soldiers turned Avengers, kneeled like people used to loss. Clint knew they were, knew they all were. 

One by one, the rest of the battlefield, aliens and generals and princesses, knelt for Iron Man. 

They knelt for the man who had saved them all, who had killed Thanos  _ knowing  _ he wouldn’t survive it, who had chosen the universe over himself. They honored the hero behind the mask. 

Clint just honored another lost friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts? comments and kudos reduce my angst
> 
> come scream at me on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)


End file.
